Being a part of The Amplify Movement

Jack Denton, member of the The Amplify Movement.(Photo: Courtesy of Jack Denton)

At 12:00 a.m. on Feb.13, I turned 20 years old while I was in a gym with about four dozen other Florida State University students, most of whom I probably would not have met if I had not applied to be the deputy candidate coordinator of The Amplify Movement.

I chose to get involved with The Amplify Movement because it was evident from the get-go that this would be a different kind of political party. The party adopted the name amplify indicating its focus on students’ voices. Instead of labeling itself a “party," it chose to use “movement” to describe what it is. The Amplify Movement is a movement because we intend to exist longer than just one or two years as virtually every previous party existed for.

Based on last year’s low voter turnout in the Spring SGA elections at FSU, most students are not aware of the impact SGA has on student life. Students at FSU receive more than an education. During our time at FSU, we will grow as individuals through interacting with people of different cultures, opinions, religions, etc.

SGA both directly and indirectly helps facilitate this through hosting events that bring students together and by funding RSOs that connect students. SGA does this with the approximate $13 million budget it works with annually. This money comes from you: the student.

During my interview for the position of deputy candidate coordinator for The Amplify Movement, the students who interviewed me were not carbon copies of each other like some might lead you to believe. They were individuals from three distinct parts of campus. Two of the three had not previously been involved in SGA. It was immediately evident this was a grassroots party led by students concerned for the future of our university.

Later that evening after my interview, I was offered the position and accepted. The very next day I attended a retreat for Amplify’s team. At the retreat, I met students from every corner of campus. They were involved in student senate, campus ministries, political clubs, pre-med clubs, agencies like BSU and various other campus entities.

When I began my studies at FSU nearly two years ago, I never would have imagined I would have been in that room with those students. My plan for my college career included my involvement in a couple clubs and that was about it.

I’m grateful that that plan for my time here at FSU has evolved into much more. I would not have some close friends I value greatly, many connections related to my future career and the numerous experiences that have defined my college career, if I had not stepped out of my comfort zone and got involved in SGA and The Amplify Movement.

During the week of elections, our morale was high. We kicked off campaign week at 12:00 a.m. on Feb. 13 by hanging out together and releasing our platform. Just a couple weeks earlier at our retreat, we had spent an hour brainstorming ideas to better SGA and your experience at FSU. That conversation, in which dozens of ideas were considered, turned into a platform of goals for the party I was proud to support. Everyone had something in the platform they could get behind.

After kicking off election week we hit the ground campaigning, engaging students from all over campus. We cared about reaching as many students as possible from all over campus, listening to their concerns and discussing our goals for Florida State.

And I’m proud to say that at no point in the campaign did The Amplify Movement ever defame, attack or belittle our challengers. This point was reinforced several times by the movement’s leaders and candidates during election week. It was of utmost importance for us to run as clean a campaign as possible. The day before the election, the Unite and Legacy parties merged. The Amplify Movement was facing greater opposition, but as surprising and major of a change as this was, our morale was as high as ever.

At 7:00 a.m. on election day, we met on campus and had one final motivational meeting before getting out there to engage students and elect our candidates. We had social media drives all day long.

Our “war room” was filled with students calling and texting friends. The walkways on campus were dotted with students wearing our garnet shirts engaging other students. It was the most impressive SGA campaign at FSU in recent history. The get out the vote effort was like no other.

The stakes were high Wednesday evening as the Supervisor of Elections, Alexis Shepherd, entered HCB 103 (the acting Senate Chamber). The room was packed with students from both parties. It was standing room only in the back. With probably 200 people in the chamber, HCB 103 was very hot. Everyone was sweating from the heat and in anticipation of the results.

As Shepherd announced the results, candidates from both parties were being declared winners. The margins were incredibly slim.

It became clear that the races for the executive branch, the final races to be called, were going to be close. With just over 51 percent of the vote, the student body elected Evan Steinberg and Stephanie Lee our next President and Vice President, respectively. And with 53.5 percent of the vote, Caleb Dawkins was elected our next Treasurer. That night, we elected the most qualified, dedicated and prepared candidates on this campus. I could not be more confident in that statement.

The Amplify Movement set out to amplify the voices of students from every walk of life on this campus. This election was just the beginning of accomplishing that goal. We plan to keep the promises we made to you while campaigning. The Steinberg-Lee-Dawkins administration will be sworn in soon, and the students' voices will begin to be amplified.